7 April 2015 Ruben Balvenie

Balvenie 15 Years Single Barrel ‘Sherry Cask’

Name: Balvenie 15 Years Single Barrel ‘Sherry Cask’
Brand: Balvenie
Rating: 4 (2 reviews)

Although it has been available since mid-2014 in some markets, the Balvenie 15 Year Old Single Barrel Sherry Cask (quite a mouth full) is still fairly new in this part of Europe. The old 15yo Single Barrel has been replaced by a Balvenie 12 Year Old Single Barrel (bourbon cask) and this 15 Year Old Sherry Cask (from European oak Oloroso butts actually).

Fully sherry matured Balvenies have been rare so it’s nice to see they will be readily available.

Balvenie 15 yo Single Barrel ‘Sherry Cask’ (47,8%, OB 2015, cask #12093, max. 650 btl.)

Nose: I like. Fruity, elegant sherry. Bags of blood oranges and apricots. Vibrant citrus and candied citrus peel. Vanilla cake. Cinnamon and raisins. A hint of nougat. Rummy notes as well. Highly aromatic whisky.

Mouth: again not an overdone, thick sherry character but a balanced, elegant profile. Some leathery touches but also toffee and candied fruits. Molasses and touches of honey. Peaches on syrup. Toasted oak, with subtle pepper and nutmeg.

Finish: medium long, still fruity. Almonds, cinnamon and orange (oil).

I have a sweet spot for this kind of ‘designer’ whiskies that succeed in bringing out the aromatics of the sherry without becoming cloying or bloated. Pretty great. Around € 85.

Score: 89/100

3Comments

Add yours

1

Taco on 22 May 2015 at 04:49

I’m about finished with a bottle of this and am still amazed at how good it is. It’s much more subtle than the popular sherry finished whiskers, but that works really well with the Balvenie spirit (which I really like).Thankfully I’ve still got more bottles set back, as the recent price shot through the roof.
2

S. on 11 June 2015 at 10:13

Hi,
just to say that I’ve already tasted about 2 different casks of Balvenie 15 Single Barrel Sherry 47.8% under the same label and because they’re precisely single casks they have been pretty different. The first one I had was sappy, dry, leathery and difficult in that aspect with very little aromatic notes if any and the second one was lighter in colour and more Balvenie with a refill sherry kind of fruitiness, more aromatic notes and more distillery character. That second one is probably much closer to the one you’re describing on this post Ruben. Unfortunately I can’t remember the cask numbers but the latter was really nice and very drinkable although not particularly deep or profound.
It is also important to mention that none of the two had any kind of Sulphury notes so they were clean as a whistle but at £80 in the UK, I’d rather look out for something else to drink (ie from an independent bottler.)
3

veverk on 16 January 2016 at 14:45

I bought 9 bottles from different casks, some of them look very dark indeed! Am on my second bottle now and it is very, very nice. I like it more than the 21yo, and agree the sherry influence is perfect, not overpowering at all. A really well-balanced whisky!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Balvenie 15 yo Single Barrel ‘Sherry Cask’ (47,8%, OB 2015, cask #12093, max. 650 btl.)

Related posts